Customer Relationship Management

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENTbe understood that the implementation of CRM
*G.JAYALAKSHMI. Ph.D Scholarinvolves immense changes and employees need to
INTRODUTIONadapt themselves to it. From the very beginning of
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management.the implementation employees will have to adopt
It is a process or methodology used to learn morenew attitudes to help deliver the customer
about customers' needs and behaviors in order toexperience properly to customers. Organizations need
develop stronger relationships with them. There areto make sure that their employees are provided with
many technological components to CRM, but thinkingsufficient training to ensure that they handle this
about CRM in primarily technological terms is aaspect of the customer experience adequately and
mistake. The more useful way to think about CRM isefficiently.
as a process that will help bring together lots ofUsing Skilled Managers
pieces of information about customers, sales,Organizations need to make sure that they use the
marketing effectiveness, responsiveness and marketmost highly skilled and experienced group of
trends. CRM helps businesses use technology andprofessionals possible. CRM aspects are complex and
human resources to gain insight into the behavior ofwhat is needed most is a team that has CRM
customers and the value of those customers.expertise and business knowledge. The team should
In today’s highly competitive businessbe adequately trained and sufficiently equipped both
environment, knowing the customers well andintellectually and technologically to carry out the CRM
effectively interacting with them is a mission-criticalimplementation successfully.
exercise. This emphasis on developing and enhancingChoose the Right Methodology
customer loyalty has evolved over the years and isDecide whether to use the classical or modern
now called Customer Relationship Management ormethodology bearing in mind that ease of usage,
CRM. The better a business can manage thecost effectiveness and efficiency need to be gained.
relationships it has with its customers the moreThis is an important step in the CRM implementation
successful it will become. Therefore IT systems thatas it has a bearing on the entire process.
specifically address the problems of dealing withEase of Usage
customers on a day-to-day basis are growing inThe entire objectives of the CRM process are
popularity.hampered if the CRM choice is difficult to use. It is
The purpose of Customer Relationship Managementhighly essential to ensure that the system speaks of
(CRM) is to enable various organizations serveease of usage and the ability to be easily
customers better through introducing them to acustomizable. Employees implementing CRM and
series of processes and procedures. This is doneforming a part of the CRM process range from the
through implementing a successful CRM strategymediocre level right to management and to the
through a software package that has beenemployee at the very forefront. It is imperative that
specifically designed to support these businessthe business ensure that the CRM software chosen
processes and procedures.is easy to use and implement not only by a few
TYPES OF CRMemployees but by everyone using the system. This is
There are several different approaches to CRM, witha step that needs to be taken at the time of
different software packages focusing on differentchoosing the CRM technology.
aspects. In general, Campaign Management and SalesCRM FOR LARGE INDUSTRIES
Force Automation form the core of the systemCRM is not just for big players. Large corporates are
(with SFA being the most popular).not the only ones who stand to benefit from CRM
Operational CRMimplementation in effect it is harder for large
Operational CRM provides support to “frontcorporates as they will undoubtedly encounter more
office" business processes, e.g. to sales, marketingdifficulties when compared to smaller ones. Apart
and service staff. Interactions with customers arefrom the huge investment involved in the installation
generally stored in customers' contact histories, anditself there are also additional costs. Training of
staff can retrieve customer information as necessary.employees, integration of the various departments,
The contact history provides staff members withphased implementation -all result in tremendous costs
immediate access to important information on thefor the organization.
customer (products owned, prior support calls etc.),CRM helps large corporates in increasing their up
eliminating the need to individually obtain thisselling and cross selling opportunities and enables a
information directly from the customer.company to do it more effectively and efficiently.
Sales Force Automation (SFA)CRM enables sales staff to deal better with their
Sales Force Automation automates salescustomers through the bettering of the sales process
force-related activities such as:and ultimately helps them to close sales deals faster.
? Tracking leadsIt manages to simplify the marketing and sales
? Scheduling sales calls or mailingsprocesses in an organization.
? Tracking responsesCRM IN SMALL INDUSTRIES
? Generating reportsCRM application tends more to profit small industries
Analytical CRMthan large ones .This occurs because re-engineering
? Analytical CRM analyzes customer data for athe front office is a crucial part of CRM. This part of
variety of purposes:CRM becomes more difficult as the number of
? Designing and executing targeted marketingpeople, departments and businesses involved grow.
campaignsSometimes more money than is required gets put in
? Designing and executing campaigns, e.g. customeron account of insufficient CRM knowledge on the
acquisition, cross-selling, up- sellingpart of the entrepreneur. With small industries, since
? Analyzing customer behavior in order to makeresources are less, optimization of resources should
decisions relating to products and services (e.g.be encouraged. CRM is currently evolving into
pricing, product development)something it wasn't a few years ago. It has become
? Management decisions (e.g. financial forecasting anda strategy that works towards increasing the
customer profitability analysis)relationship that the customer has with the
Sales Intelligence CRMorganization
Sales Intelligence CRM is similar to Analytical CRM, butThe Benefits of CRM to Industries Worldwide are
is intended as a more direct sales tool. Features? Call center efficiency increases
include alerts sent to sales staff regarding:? Marketing campaigns are made easier
? Cross-selling/Up-selling/Switch-selling opportunities? Account information
? Customer drift? Overall revenue increases
? Sales performance? Cost reduction is achieved
? Customer trends and Customer margins? Better customer service is achieved
Campaign Management? Organizations can gain the competitive edge
Campaign management combines elements of? Organizations can concentrate more on production
Operational and Analytical CRM. Campaign? Constant supply of vital customer data
management functions include:? Customers receive satisfaction
Target groups formed from the client base according? Routine tasks are easier to handle
to selected criteria? Marketing and support expenses are reduced
Sending campaign-related material (e.g. on special? Sales teams can be effectively monitored
offers) to selected recipients using various channels? Teamwork within the organization is achieved
(e.g. e-mail, telephone, post)? Communication channels are improved
Tracking, storing, and analyzing campaign statistics,? Customers have detailed profiles assigned to them
including tracking responses and analyzing trends? Employees have access to customer details more
Collaborative CRMeasily
Collaborative CRM covers aspects of a company's? New selling opportunities can be discovered
dealings with customers that are handled by various? Companies are enabled to be aware of customer
departments within a company, such as sales,needs and are able to react to them in the right
technical support and marketing. Staff membersmanner
within the departments can share information? CRM achieves an integrated internal business
collected when interacting with customers. Forsystem
example, feedback received by customer support? CRM imposes welcome a much needed discipline
agents can provide other staff members withwithin an organization
information on the services and features requested? CRM technology goes a long way in benefiting the
by customers. Collaborative CRM's ultimate goal is toorganization itself
use information collected by all departments to? Companies have easy access to purchase histories
improve the quality of services provided by the? Automation of routine tasks becomes possible
company.? Companies can monitor their performances
Geographic CRMregularly.
Geographic CRM (GCRM) combines geographicTHE LEADERS IN THE FIELD OF CRM INCLUDE
information system and traditional CRM. GeographicOracle
data can be analyzed to provide a snapshot ofOracle is the leader in the CRM field. The company
potential customers in a region or to plan routes forcurrently offers 50 CRM applications that are able to
customer visits.provide for all the customer service requirements of
CRM IMPLEMENTATIONsmall, medium and large industries. Oracle provides
CRM implementation differs from organization toCRM applications that aid the organization through
organization but there are a few common steps oneimproved business processes. In addition to that the
needs to follow to ensure a successfulfunctionality it offers is just as important. It manages
implementation.to provide excellent support for all departments
There are many factors that could influence thewithin the organization like customer support, added
success of CRM implementation. Some of them are:services and additional
Focus on All Business AspectsSAP
In most cases the technology will have less to doSAP was established in 1972 and is now a leader in
with the CRM success. Therefore it is important tothe provision of business solutions for all types of
focus as much importance on communication trainingindustries. It is a CRM software vendor that caters
and other aspects as much as the technologyto businesses worldwide and currently serves more
involved. It is important to involve management atthan 32,000 customers. SAP has a presence in more
several levels, focus on communication need andthan 50 countries. It is the world's largest business
indulge in adequate training of the concernedsoftware company. It is the world's third-largest
employees throughout the organization. If theseindependent software provider overall and employs
items receive a level of focus comparable to themore than 35,000 people.
technical system, CRM implementation stands aThey are able to provide excellent customer service
better chance of succeeding.and support. It boasts of having the Knowledge,
Define the Business ProblemExperience, and Technology that is needed to
A business needs to clearly define the businessoptimize Business efficiency. It manages to provide a
problem see what benefits it wants to achieve andrange of solutions that cater to every aspect of the
adopt the required measures. It is imminentlybusiness.
important to clearly identify the business problemThe Benefits from SAP are:
that the company needs to resolve. An organization? Better efficiency
needs to absolutely identify the desired benefits and? Cost reduction
make sure that the expected returns are generated? Better performance
at every stage. It is important to break down the? Adaptability to business environment
entire process into smaller pieces that can beOverall Growth
individually handled effectively.One advantage SAP has is that SAP Ventures
Establishing Proper Metricsinvests in new companies that are interested in
Since companies normally wait for a five year periodfinding new technologies. This enables them to stay
to see a return on investment. Every organizationahead in the rat race.
has to compulsorily define performance metrics toSAP offers several solutions for Customer
ensure that it measures the return on investmentRelationship Management and is able to deliver
adequately.customer-centric solutions that revolve around each
Business Processes not Technologycustomer. It helps the organization to support the
In order to succeed at CRM all companies need tovarious departments like marketing, sales, and service
understand that it is not about technology alone butand provides them with good analytics as well as
about business processes as well. While CRM changesexcellent interaction capabilities.
a company's business processes technology supportsSAP CRM supports the customer-related processes
the processes. Most businesses make the mistake ofand deals with all customer-related activities across all
actually assuming that the CRM is only aboutdepartments. It sources and gathers together all
technology alone. This hampers business processcustomer data in the organization in order to facilitate
development.better decisions. It enables company's address their
Implement Changebusiness needs adequately, manages to achieve the
Most employees tend to stick with their old waysbusiness objectives and reaps the required return on
and are reluctant to adapt to changes, It needs toinvestment.